Epworth United Methodist Church

Pentecost Proclamation
Mark 6:1-13
Epworth UMC,
July 5, 2009,
Portland, Oregon

“Humanity of Jesus”

INTRO: Our gospel is always proclaimed by flawed mortals; otherwise it would not be proclaimed at all. It is true that the gospel is always HEARD by flawed mortals; otherwise it would never be hear. Hence there is a beautiful and incarnational link between the 2 episodes that make up the Markan reading today.

In the first portion of the reading, Jesus enters his own hometown having just outdone himself in the miracle department. (Lectionary gospel for last week) But he’s hardly been elevated to super healer/hero status, recalling that after the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the people laughed at him. The rejection Jesus meets in Nazareth is different from what he faces elsewhere only in degree.

We might be tempted to harshly judge those hometown folks for responding to Jesus the way they did. But if we do so, we miss an important point: we too have times of disbelief. We too are apt to restrict what we think God is capable of doing in our lives and our communities.

Such a reaction overlooks the connection between this episode and what follows. The rejection Jesus experiences allows his disciples to know that in Christ, God has entered the human condition in an entirely real way, complete with limits and suffering. The disciples are no longer alone in their weaknesses and so-called failures, and neither are we. As they go out 2 by 2 they do so knowing that even Jesus, The Word made Human, came to his own people and they rejected him. Rejection has been the traveling companion of the Gospel from the beginning. More later on how we attempt to create our own idea of what Jesus should be like. When he doesn’t conform to our notion of the human/divine one, we become disappointed. Jesus was a radical social revolutionary and often we prefer a more civilized, manageable Jesus.

PRAYER: Startle us again O God with a new vision of the Christ we proclaim to follow. Save us from making him only human or only divine. Open our eyes, ears, and hearts so that we may embrace what healing and transformation you have in mind for us today. Come, Holy Spirit come, speak to us today the needed word. We ask this in the Name of your Decided Newness, Jesus, AMEN.

Proclamation: Two issues seemed to be my focus as I struggled with this text. One is the apparent limited ability of Jesus to do much in his home town, and second, the staidness and unwillingness to see Jesus as a true agent of change that drove him out of Nazareth. We say we believe in Jesus as fully human/fully divine, yet when he comes across in a text as having limits, as do we, we might balk, preferring the Jesus who always does what we ask, and a Jesus with no limits at all. Yet ponder this. How could we in our humanity identify with a Jesus who never failed at anything, with one who never experienced rejection and the myriad other maladies of earthlings like us?

The text implies that one of the facets leading Jesus to move on was the great lack of faith in the hometown folks. Could it be that Jesus needs the energy and companionship of humankind in order to accomplish God’s bidding? The following phrase speaks to this dilemma as well as anything I’ve ever heard. I don’t know who wrote it. “Without us, God will not. Without God, we cannot.” Interesting position isn’t it? Maybe the late martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had something when he wrote in “Letters and Papers from Prison.” Pastor Bonhoeffer wrote, “God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is exactly the way, the only way, in which God can be with us and help us.” A writer commenting on this quote (Charles Ringma) expands on this by saying, “God’s coming among us in Christ has all the trappings of an anti-drama. In many ways, it was all so ordinary. And yet it was so special. But to a large extent it was wonderful only in hindsight. Only a few at the time of Jesus’ coming really saw and wondered and worshiped. The majority saw nothing very special and finally sided with those who wanted to rid Israel of the Beloved One from Galilee. In this way, God came among us in weakness rather than in power; yet in this way alone we could be redeemed and transformed. God’s weakness will always manifest itself in the power of grace. “(End of quote.)

Hardly have I given a full rationale for what appears to be Jesus’ limits in the text. But it is time to move on to my second point, that being the apathy in the Nazarenes. They just knew they already had him pegged as just a hometown boy who may have had an unusual life, but to them he was just Jesus the son of the carpenter and the son of Mary. Hardly anyone to get very excited about. They had seen prophets come and go, so why get worked up and enter possibilities with this one? Maybe many in Nazareth could be termed “apatheists.” Who are they? Stay tuned.

Several years ago, writer Jonathan Rauch coined a new term, that of “apatheism.” (Yes, I had to look it up on Google and found many references to it there.) Writing in The Atlantic Monthly, Rauch wrote: “Apatheism is a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people’s religion. It may or may not be something new in t he world, but its flowering; particularly in ostensibly religious America is worth noting.” (The Atlantic Monthly May 2003) Rauch goes on to say, “Apatheism concerns not what you believe, but how. Most agnostics (those holding to “I don’t know) are apatheists, but most apatheists are not agnostics. This is an essential point; many apatheists are believers. Since apatheism concerns not what we believe but HOW, so how do we believe?”

Apatheism may be a new word for our decade. It may well be a word used to describe how we handle religious faith these days. We may think we are well served if we keep everything in general terms. We may be ones to check the “I believe in God” box, but the downside of a broad tolerance of everything is a lack of passion about anything. Surely that as appealing, acceptable, and free-of-risk as religious generalities may be, they will not begin to touch the real reason you came to worship this morning.

Apatheism might accurately the largely unchurched Pacific Northwest, but it is a passionless word. No one’s soul was ever fed well on euphemisms and generalities. Apatheism will not produce satisfaction. It will not touch that empty spot in your deepest longing. It will not scratch that “Who am I?” itch, and will leave you still with a gnawing hunger when you stop and think about your life and your purpose here. The downside of broad tolerance of everything is often a lack of passion about anything.

Jesus came to his own people. He still comes to his own people and waits to see what will happen. Those who do not welcome his overt presence, his words, do not engage in gospel passion, will be well able to blend into the world about them. They’ll still be OK with just checking the “I believe in God” box. But here is the downside.

For us we are left alone with many questions but few answers. We are on a faith journey with no travel companions. All we have e is ourselves. Our Christian faith requires the passion and presence of Jesus Christ. The spiritual journey we’ve chosen is more than just finding a better-grounded approach to life. It is rather a lively engagement with the Christ who stands among us even now this moment in this very community of faith. Our faith is to be as passionate and specific as the love Jesus offers. It is as bold and faithful as the love he shares. It is always a faith that is both private and public, both treasured and shared. It stands FOR something, for Someone! It matters. There is no room for mediocrity, conformity, or apatheism. God’s love is one that desires to change the world, transforming us one by one. Our faith sings and shouts. It hopes even through despair. It allows us to hold onto faith in spite of prayers denied. Our faith is full of life in all its fullness. It has no place for apatheists.

In the Name of the One who loves us too much to let us remain the same, Jesus, the YES of God! Amen!

(Sources: The Christian Century, Lectionary Homiletics, www. Theology.org)